Rémoulade

Last night I had a chunk of celeriac, and some thawed little cocktail shrimp. I realized that our dinner guest didn't like tomatoey sauces. So I put 2+2 together and decided to whiz the celeriac thru the grater blade of our cuisinart, and make a combo appetizer salad of celeri rémoulade and shrimp rémoulade, on a lettuce leaf. It was good (with a glass of Champagne) but kind of flawed.

I had stumbled over a New Orleans version of shrimp rémoulade which had a real kick with horseradish and hot sauce and other ingredients. I think the simplest recipe for the sauce is basically a tablespoon of Dijon mustard in a cup of Mayo. How do you make rémoulade? There must be a lot of variation and I think there is a "best" version. The New Orleans stuff was just a bit too much for me.

I love a celeriac/mussels remoulade from Pierre Franey's 60 minute Gourmet, this looks like it

1 knob celery (also called root celery and celeriac), about 3/4 pound
1 quart mussels
2 tbsp wine vinegar
1 cup mayonnaise, preferably homemade
1 tbsp prepared mustard such as Dijon or Düsseldorf
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Preparation
1. Place the mussels in a saucepan and add half the wine vinegar. Cover and bring to the boil. Cook about 5 minutes, or until the mussels open. Remove. Let cool.

2. Remove the mussels from the shells. Discard the shells but save at least 2 tablespoons of liquid.

3. Peel the celery and cut into thin slices an eighth of an inch thick or less. Stack the slices, a few at a time, and cut them into the finest possible strips. If a food processor is available, the celery may be quartered and shredded, using the fine shredding blade. Add the celery to a mixing bowl.

4. Add the mussels to the celery. Blend the mayonnaise, remaining vinegar, and the reserved mussel liquid. Add this to the celery mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste, and toss well to blend. Serve.

I make a very green and spicy remoulade to serve with grilled fish. Can't remember where I got the recipe, but it is as follows, with ingredients approximate.

1 bu parsley
3 anchovy fillets
1 Tbsp capers
1/3 C dill pickles, minced
1 C mayonnaise (preferably homemade)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp lemon juice (or more to desired consistency)
salt to taste (optional)

Remove leaves from parsley to chopping board. Place anchovies and capers atop parsley and begin to chop all together until parsley is minced and will measure approx. 1.5 C. Add remaining ingredients and thoroughly mix. Let rest at least 2 hrs to blend flavors.

Dale, your ingredients mention mustard but your recipe doesn't. Assuming it's a tablespoon of mustard in a cup of Mayo, it's what I described as the "classic" simple version -- with a bit of vinegar. Using it with mussels is a great idea.

Jo Ann -- what surprises me about your recipe is NO mustard at all! For what it is worth my "Louisiana" recipe also included a big batch of minced parsley, and sliced scallions, stirred into the sauce. My recipe didn't use mayo but instead olive oil stirred in -- which really didn't lead to a full mayonnaise texture. I have seen anchovy and pickles as ingredients in Remoulade, even a touch of ketchup. I like anchovies, maybe that would be good. The pickles push it toward a kind of tartar sauce, no? WIthout the mustard the recipe almost reads more like a tartar sauce to my mind than a remoulade.

[Robin Garr]

One note that I'm surprised I haven't seen mentioned here. New Orleans/Acadiana Remoulade, in my experience, is invariably a light pink color, and I'm afraid that comes in via ketchup or perhaps tomato sauce. I've never seen a remoulade that didn't have this color and slight flavor element, but maybe I don't get out enough.

I have seen anchovy and pickles as ingredients in Remoulade, even a touch of ketchup.

Not MUCH of a mention, but…

Evidently it happens. I probably wouldn't even mind it. Thinking of doing something similar this weekend which is why it's on my mind.

[Robin Garr]

I have seen anchovy and pickles as ingredients in Remoulade, even a touch of ketchup.

Not MUCH of a mention, but…

Evidently it happens. I probably wouldn't even mind it. Thinking of doing something similar this weekend which is why it's on my mind.

Oops. sorry I missed that reference, Frank.

Again, though, in my experience - others' mileage may vary - the old-school restaurants in New Orleans (Galatoire's as exhibit No. 1) invariably use enough ketchup or tomato sauce to color the remoulade pink. For a long time I was unaware that it even came in other colors!

Frank, yes I just stir mustard in at end of making mayo. I'll look at recipe in actual Franey book to see if it is listed in steps there- this was uncredited online, but directions looked familiar.
I've done capers and anchovy in remoulade before.
The Franey book has a similar recipe for celeriac with salami, but I've never tried that one

[Jenise]

I have seen anchovy and pickles as ingredients in Remoulade, even a touch of ketchup.

Not MUCH of a mention, but…

Evidently it happens. I probably wouldn't even mind it. Thinking of doing something similar this weekend which is why it's on my mind.

Oops. sorry I missed that reference, Frank.

Again, though, in my experience - others' mileage may vary - the old-school restaurants in New Orleans (Galatoire's as exhibit No. 1) invariably use enough ketchup or tomato sauce to color the remoulade pink. For a long time I was unaware that it even came in other colors!

And isn't that usually a shrimp remoulade? The color and slight kiss of sweetness works well that way. But the classic French celery root remoulade--no ketchup!

And isn't that usually a shrimp remoulade? The color and slight kiss of sweetness works well that way. But the classic French celery root remoulade--no ketchup!

I don't know, which is why I asked. For someone with lots of experience eating interesting things, I am a little surprised that I have gone all of these years without really noticing remoulade. If there is a subtle distinction, that's what I am asking about.

Just for the record here is what James Peterson says in "Sauces" (a fairly definitive tome). I edited for brevity.

"Flavor one cup of basic mayonnaise with 2 tablespoons of mustard and 4 tablespoons of chopped capers. Add one teaspoon of anchovy paste and 2 tablespoons of a mixture of finely chopped parsley, chervil, and tarragon. If fresh chervil and tarragon are not available, it is better to leave them out than to use dried."

Somewhere I read, 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard and 1 tablespoon of whole grain mustard, and that sounds like a good idea.

This my go-to basic recipe. I use it more as a list of ingredients changing the amounts depending upon the situation.

Remoulade Sauce-

¾ cup Mayo
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 ½ tsp. Whole-grain mustard or more Dijon
1 tsp. Dried tarragon or 1 TBS fresh (DO NOT DELETE) could use dill as well or combination, chopped
2 tsp. Capers, drained and chopped
2-3 dashes of Tabasco sauce
` 1 TB. Chopped parsley
1 scallion( with 3 inches of the green left on) very thinly sliced, (can sub. Chive, chopped)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Splash lemon juice or red wine vinegar or both
*cilantro could be added as well